Do you think my bird is unhappy?

I have a Sun Conure who is less than a year old. He is a wonderful companion. He isn't flighted (yet) but he still tries to fly to my wife and me to be near us. If he lands on the ground he'll simply climb on our toes and be perfectly contented to be near us. For whatever reason he will always choose my wife's shoulder or buried in her shirt, but he demands being on my fingers exclusively. No idea what that is about, but it's fine.

My concern is that he doesn't really have a playful bone in his body. He hates trick training (and I'm not predisposed to force the issue) and while he's an active chewer, he won't play on a flat surface to save his life (good luck teaching a bird to roll over on a perch!).

Instead he SEEMS perfectly content to just he near us. He'll sit perched on my finger for hours. If I give him a treat he'll eat it. If I pet his neck he'll fluff out and close his eyes. But if I leave him alone he'll just sit there on my finger and chill.

Is he happy or bored? Am I making a mistake by trying to introduce stimulus to a contented companion, or am I not tring hard enough to stimulate him?

Its tough to say. I will say this- what you're describing is similar to Skittles.

Sunnies are MAJOR cuddle bugs and major chewers.

Does he have any toys? You may want to try maybe some foraging toys or foot toys and see how he likes them.

Skittles really likes his rope perches and his jungle ball but he isn't really a "playful" kind of bird, more a cuddlebug. Granted, I didn't try to trick train him.

Good on you for not forcing the issue.

Sunnies are very content just being near their owners. If he is getting plenty of out of cage time interacting with you and your wife then I would say its unlikely that he is unhappy and more likely the opposite.

Also, I don't think its a bad idea to continue to try and offer him different ways to be entertained. It's actually a good idea, just don't force it. I don't think you are doing anything wrong. I just let Skittles be Skittles. They have BIG personalities and its only a matter of time before yours begins to express it. Sunnies are NOT shy, they are very opinionated and will let you know it!

Skittys_Daddy said:

Its tough to say. I will say this- what you're describing is similar to Skittles.

Sunnies are MAJOR cuddle bugs and major chewers.

Does he have any toys? You may want to try maybe some foraging toys or foot toys and see how he likes them.

Skittles really likes his rope perches and his jungle ball but he isn't really a "playful" kind of bird, more a cuddlebug. Granted, I didn't try to trick train him.

Good on you for not forcing the issue.

Sunnies are very content just being near their owners. If he is getting plenty of out of cage time interacting with you and your wife then I would say its unlikely that he is unhappy and more likely the opposite.

Also, I don't think its a bad idea to continue to try and offer him different ways to be entertained. It's actually a good idea, just don't force it. I don't think you are doing anything wrong. I just let Skittles be Skittles. They have BIG personalities and its only a matter of time before yours begins to express it. Sunnies are NOT shy, they are very opinionated and will let you know it!

Click to expand...

One of the things I have tried that seems to have allowed Sol to express his inner playfulness is popsices. I bought half a dozen toy's for him to try to stimulate him when he's with me but invariably after 10 or 20 seconds he'd drop the toy and lose interest. I can only play fetch for so long before I lose interest too...

But then I ate a popsicle with Sol on my finger. He watched for awhile but soon enough he had to find out for himself what tasted so good. It is pretty funny watching him fight himself to take another bite knowing it'll be cold, only to shake his whole body when he does.

But the real treat is once we finally get down to the stick. He goes nuts, and tears the thing to shreds. I'm able to hold it loosely in my fingers and let him go to town. He creates some pretty awesome abstract art crearions!

Careful with the popsicles, they have sugar in them and that's not good for birds. So if you do it, be cautious and not give him too much nor too often.

Skittles likes toothpicks and qtips, he likes to chew them up.

They do crave interaction, which can really help get them to be more playful. They are very social birds.

wildside50 said:

Skittys_Daddy said:

Its tough to say. I will say this- what you're describing is similar to Skittles.

Sunnies are MAJOR cuddle bugs and major chewers.

Does he have any toys? You may want to try maybe some foraging toys or foot toys and see how he likes them.

Skittles really likes his rope perches and his jungle ball but he isn't really a "playful" kind of bird, more a cuddlebug. Granted, I didn't try to trick train him.

Good on you for not forcing the issue.

Sunnies are very content just being near their owners. If he is getting plenty of out of cage time interacting with you and your wife then I would say its unlikely that he is unhappy and more likely the opposite.

Also, I don't think its a bad idea to continue to try and offer him different ways to be entertained. It's actually a good idea, just don't force it. I don't think you are doing anything wrong. I just let Skittles be Skittles. They have BIG personalities and its only a matter of time before yours begins to express it. Sunnies are NOT shy, they are very opinionated and will let you know it!

Click to expand...

One of the things I have tried that seems to have allowed Sol to express his inner playfulness is popsices. I bought half a dozen toy's for him to try to stimulate him when he's with me but invariably after 10 or 20 seconds he'd drop the toy and lose interest. I can only play fetch for so long before I lose interest too...

But then I ate a popsicle with Sol on my finger. He watched for awhile but soon enough he had to find out for himself what tasted so good. It is pretty funny watching him fight himself to take another bite knowing it'll be cold, only to shake his whole body when he does.

But the real treat is once we finally get down to the stick. He goes nuts, and tears the thing to shreds. I'm able to hold it loosely in my fingers and let him go to town. He creates some pretty awesome abstract art creations!

Click to expand...

You have found a toy that Sol likes, perhaps you could get hold of a packet of them and then set to having some fun? As he likes a cold treat it would probably be better to make your own such as homemade unsweetened fruit sorbet using berries, kiwi, mango or papaya for example? Remember not all birds of a species are exactly the same and of course he is still young.

They're actually 100% fruit bars with no sugar added. And he barely eats any. He just has to have what I'm having even if it is very cold.

Kiwi is the same way. She has some toys that she'll play with, but she seems to truly enjoy sitting on a perch in the room we're in. I did clicker training with her, but it made her angry so I stopped pushing it. She can spin and she knows to stay but tricks are not her thing. I think Kiwi is so laid back because we are. There's not a lot of activity in our house so she can just sit and chill with us.

That's good- I wasn't sure what kind of popsicles they were. It's just that some of those frozen treats are full of added sugar which truthfully isn't good for us either.

I have bought the Edy's fruit bars before and Skittles has had a bit of those from time to time. They have no added sugar and they have real pieces of fruit in them.

I buy 100% pure juice for Skittles. He loves his morning oj!

But I'm not suprised about the sticks- lol. I do have to keep my pencils hidden cause Skittles will make a play for them and pencils are a BIG no-no for birds- the paint, the lead and so on.

@sica1029 That is very true. The more activity there is the more active they are likely to be- chaos breeds chaos. I live alone and rather quietly and I think that's why Skittles is so laid back as well, well most of the time. He does go on his 'diva' streaks from time to time.

I quit buying bird toys ages ago... Pork shoulder bones left over from my bbq cooks on a chain is one of my BFAs favorite.. and both of them love the cardboard rollers left over from paper towels and aluminum foil and will amuse themselves for hours tearing them up. I would think your birdie should be flighted by now.. perhaps work with him in a short hallway ... preferably over a carpeted floor and give him gentle tosses from about knee high... letting him strengthen those wings aa bit. I do find it weird he does not like to play... both of my youngins love lil games like "pull my tail".. "hide and seek" and mock fighting... with each other as well as with me. I assume you have a good healthy diet for him?

It sounds like you have a happy baby! If he loves your popsicle sticks, I would definitely try to pick up a pack of them, my birds love them as foot toys. He also may like one of those small wicker balls to chew on.
I saw aluminum foil mentioned by a previous poster, and personally I would be afraid to let my birds chew on that.

EDIT: I misunderstood the post about aluminum foil, my apologies